Production-plants performing methods of the above mentioned art are known and have been marketed a substantial number of years. In these plants the liquid mass is continuously filled into the mould cavities. The mould cavities are formed in mould elements, which are conveyed through the production-plant by means of the throughgoing conveying means. After the mould cavities are filled, the mould elements are conveyed through a cooling step at a predetermined travel speed. This speed always corresponds to the actual travel speed of the throughgoing conveying means. In the cooling step the articles are allowed to sufficiently solidify.
The necessary cooling for a specific article always depends upon the geometrical form of the article as well as the type of mass, and is regulated accordingly by adjusting for instance the actual travel speed of the throughgoing conveying means.
Furthermore the actual travel speed of the throughgoing conveying means determines the number of mould elements per time unit, which is conveyed through the production-plant, and therefore the production capacity.
EP 0 806 152 A2 disclose a production-plant of the known art, by which the cooling time, and consequently the cooling amount obtainable for specific articles may only be adjusted by regulating the travel speed of the conveying means. Thereby, the travel speed of the conveying means at other positions of the system than the cooling section is adjusted accordingly as well. The disclosure presents no solutions for regulating the cooling time of specific articles independently of the required travel speed of the throughgoing conveying means in the remaining parts of the system.
In the prior art it is not possible to regulate the residence time for a certain article in the cooling step without regulating the residence time in the other steps of the production-plant.